Processing head for electrophotographic apparatus

Abstract

 A process head for electrophotographic apparatus, comprising a charging/exposing chamber, a developing chamber, a drying chamber and a fixing chamber integrally formed along the feeding direction of the film for recording, to permit processing of a plurality of frames of the recording film simultaneously, stage heads constituting the respective processing chambers are fixed to a mounting member, and a portion with charging mechanism is detachably inserted in the space between the stage head corresponding to the charging/exposing chamber and the mounting member so that its maintenance can be facilitated and the apparatus as a whole can be made compact in size.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a process or processing head for electrophotographic apparatus for recording picture image data on electrophotosensitive material by processing the same in various stages, i.e. charging/exposure, developing, drying and fixing, and more particularly to a process head which is easy to maintain and compact in size.

[0002] Picture image data is generally recorded on a microfilm or the like by a 5-stage processing which comprises charging, exposing, developing, drying and fixing in a wet-type electrophotographic recording system. In short, a film or an electro-photosensitive material is charged on the surface thereof by corona discharge in the charging process and forwarded to an exposing process. In the exposing process, picture image data to be recorded is projected and recorded on the film via an optical system as an electrostatic latent image. The film with the electrostatic latent image is fed to a developing process where a developer is applied to the photosensitive surface thereof, and toner is electrically adhered according to the pattern of the latent image. Then, the film is passed to the drying process to dry unnecessary developer. The toner which has been electrically adhered is fused in a fixing process, thereby recording the picture image data on the film almost permanently. If a special liquid developer is used, it may be dried and fixed simultaneously. In such a case, the drying process includes the fixing process, and the film may be finished completely by a 4-stage process.

[0003] As it is possible to advance the image recording process by a frame of a film in such an electrophotographic system, it can advantageously reproduce picture image data immediately. Also, since said electro-photosensitive member is not photosensitive until it is charged, the film can be inserted under the daylight, this being more advantageous compared with a conventional recording system using a silver halide photographic material; therefore, this process has been applied in various fields.

[0004] In the above electrophotographic recording system, as the toner is electrically adhered to an electro-photosensitive member as described above, it is necessary to immediately fix it. The above processing is, therefore, conducted on each frame consecutively and continuously. There have been proposed various types of recording heads which can conduct image processing in a short time and which have processing sections arranged in a space-saving manner.

[0005] A conventional head is shown in Figs. l(a) and l(b). The recording head 10 in Fig. l(a) is provided with a charging/exposing section 11, a fixing section 12 adjacent thereto, a liquid-removing section 13 and a developing section 11 arranged in that order; all these sections other than the liquid-removing section 13 have openings of a size corresponding to a frame of a film. A frame of the film is uniformly charged and projected with image at the charging/exposing section 11, then passed to the developing section 14 via the fixing section 12 and the liquid-removing section 13 and processed for development. It then is reversed to be passed in the direction toward the liquid-removing section 13 to remove the liquid and dry while moving toward the fixing section 12. The fixing process is conducted in section 12, and at the same time a new frame adjacent to the first frame is charged and exposed at the charging/exposing section 11.

[0006] The recording head 20 shown in Fig. l(b) is an example where a main body 21 is provided to be slidable in the advancing direction of the film and to comprise a developing section 22, an exposing section 23, a charging section 24, and a drying section 25 arranged in proper order. In the recording head 20, the main body 21 is moved in the advancing direction of the film toward a frame thereof which is held stationary at a predetermined position, to conduct processes from charging to developing consecutively by the charging section 24, the exposing section 23, and the developing section 22. Then, the main body 21 is reversed in movement so that the drying section 25 comes to face the frame to conduct drying and fixing operations. As reference materials concerning Fig. l(a), there are US Pat. No. 3,972,610 and No. 4,082,442,etc. As for Fig. l(b), there is Jap. Pat. Pub. Sho 54-13786.

[0007] The conventional process heads for recording, however, have a common defect of a complex feeding mechanism because the relative moving direction of the head must be reversed after developing. Also, these heads are detrimental to efficiency in processing, because a plurality of processes cannot be conducted simultaneously and the intervals between processes tend to become extended. Further, the process head for recording shown in Fig. l(a) has the drawback that, since a pressure reducing pump is used for feeding the developer into the developing chamber, the structure of the liquid flow system becomes complicated and thus expensive.

[0008] The present invention aims to provide a process head for electrophotographic apparatus for recording picture image data on electro-photosensitive material, which is easy to maintain and compact in size.

[0009] In the process head according to the present invention which comprises a charging/exposing chamber, a developing chamber, a drying chamber and a fixing chamber, the process head is characterized in that at least the portion of the charging/exposing chamber where a corona wire is fixed, is detachably mounted.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a process head which is more easy to maintain and assemble. This process head comprises a member for mounting and a head member and is characterized in that:

(a) said mounting member is adapted to be mounted to the main body of an electrophotographic apparatus; and

(b) said head member is formed with an opening facing the electro-photosensitive material, and said mounting and said head members are integrally fixed so that the charging/exposing chamber, developing chamber, drying chamber and fixing chamber are formed in the space between the mounting and the head members.

[0011] Below, the invention is explained in greater detail by referring to drawings, wherein -

Figs. l(a) and l(b) are perspective views of a conventional process head for electrophotographic apparatus;

Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) are schematic views to show the electro-photosensitive material, i.e. film, to be used in the present invention;

Fig. 3 shows one embodiment of the process head according to the present,invention;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of one embodiment of the process head according to the present invention;

Fig. 5 shows a portion of the charging/exposing stage in section;

Fig. 6 is a perspective exploded view to show the rear of the head for a plurality of stages;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a portion of a developing stage;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a portion of a drying stage; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a portion of a fixing stage.

[0012] In making an electrophotographic recording system compact, it is important that the charging section which requires maintenance more than other sections be made easily and detachably mounted without changing the relative position of the lens and the electro-photosensitive material at the time of exposure, and that the space inside the device be utilized to the maximum, to minimize dead space. From the abovementioned viewpoint, the present invention aims to propose a compact construction of a process or processing head for electrophotographic apparatus, which is not only capable of continuous processing of electrophotographs in a wet-type electrophotographic recording system,but also is easy to repair, inspect and maintain.

[0013] The process head according to the present invention will now be described in detail referring to the accompanying Figs. 3 through 9.

[0014] Referring to Fig. 4 which shows an embodiment in exploded view, the process head according to the present invention comprises a mounting member 112 and head members 114 and 115. The mounting member 112 is adapted to be mounted to the main body of an electrophotographic apparatus (not shown), and provided with recessed portions 112a and 112b where each processing chamber will be formed when the head members 114 and 115 are attached thereto. Said recessed portions 112a and 112b are formed on both sides of the mounting member 112, and the latter is divided into two sections by these recessed portions 112a and 112b. Further, a lens 111 for exposure or projection is screwed to the recessed portion at the left in Fig. 4, and a drying air supply path 113 is formed in said mounting member 112 to blow air for drying onto the electro-photosensitive material located at the drying stage to be described hereinbelow. All the components may be either screwed or bonded to the mounting member 112. The above head portions are provided with openings for respective processing chambers to constitute a charging/ exposing window 116, a developing window 120 and a fixing window 129 which face the electro-photosensitive material. These openings in the charging/exposing chamber,developing chamber, drying chamber and fixing chamber, respectively, are conformed in size to one frame of the electro-photosensitive material, and arranged in a row or line starting from the charging/exposing chamber in the above order. In this embodiment, the head member 114 comprises a complex stage head 114 which includes portions for the charging/exposing stage, the developing stage and the drying stage, and a single stage head member 115 which is associated only with the fixing stage. The construction of the head is not limited to that described above, but may be different so long as at least two or more stage heads each having said processing chambers,are formed and arranged in a row.

[0015] The construction of the charging/exposing stage is shown in section in Fig. 5. As illustrated, a charging/ exposing window 116 is formed in the complex stage head 114 at its charging/exposing stage to oppose the lens 111. A detachable charging head 119 which opposes the electro-photosensitive material 117 and which is provided with a corona wire 118 for charging said material, fits in the mounting member 112 in a manner to be held between the latter and the complex stage head 114. Although the charging mechanism shown in this embodiment and comprising the corona wire 118 and corona electrodes l18a on both sides of the wire is made detachable, any form of mechanism may be used so long as the corona wire 118 is detachable or removable.

[0016] The configuration of the mounting member 112 and of the charging head 119 is not limited to the one shown in the above embodiment so long as the charging head 119 can be attached to the mounting member 112 as complex stage head 114.

[0017] Referring now to Fig. 6 which shows the rear of the complex stage head 114 in exploded view, and Fig. 7 which is a sectional view of the developing stage, the complex stage head 114 is formed with a developing window 20 adjacent to the charging/exposing window 116. A developer supply path 121 is provided above the window 120, and a suction path 122 is provided below the window 120 to remove excess developer remaining on the surface of the electro-photosensitive material 117 after developing. A partition 123 which projects toward the developing window 120 is integrally fixed by adhesion or fusion to the rear of the complex stage head 114 at the developing stage. The developing chamber 124 is formed between said partition 123 and the developing window 120. The partition 123 is provided with a squeezing-air supply path 125 and a discharge path 126 for discharging excess developer and squeezing air. Thus, the developer supplied via the developer supply path 121, or the air blown in via the air supply path 125, flows through the developing chamber 124 and is discharged through the discharge path 126. At the drying stage, drying air supplied from the drying air supply path 113 is blown on the electro-photosensitive material 117 positioned at this portion. As shown in Fig. 8 in section, a guide plate 127 is screwed to the mounting member 112 to guide the drying air from the air supply path 113 toward the electro-photosensitive material 117. As shown in Fig. 9 being a sectional view of the fixing stage, a window for fixing 129 having a protective glass 128 adhered there-across is formed in the single stage head 115 which is screwed to the mounting member 112. A detachable Xenon flash light tube 130 is inserted between the single stage head 115 and the mounting member 112 and shielded from outside by means of a pair of shielding plates 131 which are screwed to the mounting member 112 and the single stage head 115. Although the complex (or multiple) stage head 114 and the single stage head 115 are provided separately in this embodiment, they may be formed as an integral component. It is also noted that any known means for charging, drying or fixing other than those employed in this embodiment can be used. In the embodiment, a press plate 32 is provided at each stage to retain the electro-photosensitive material 117 flat.

[0018] The device operates in the same manner as the conventional device for recording data. The charging/ exposing stage, developing stage, drying stage and fixing stage are located in this order at an interval corresponding to one frame of the electro-photosensitive material 117, and the latter is advanced intermittently frame by frame, so that the required picture image data are consecutively recorded on the material 117. The charging head 119, if it requires inspection/maintenance and repair/replacement due to failure, can be easily detached from the mounting member 112 by removing the screws. Likewise, the Xenon flash light tube 130 can also be easily detached. There is no risk of varying the distance between the lens 11 and the electro-photosensitive material 117 in operation, and thus there is less risk of lowering the precision by attaching/ detaching the charging head 119. A large space is formed at the rear of the developing chamber 124, where the portion of the charging head 119 holding the corona wire can be installed so as to minimize the spacing between the charging/exposing stage and the developing stage, thereby making the head compact as a whole.

[0019] As has been described above, since the charging section can be separately attached/detached arbitrarily in the process head according to the present invention, inspection, maintenance or repair thereof can be performed promptly as well as easily.

Claims

1. A process head for electrophotographic apparatus, comprising a charging/exposing chamber, a developing chamber, a drying chamber and a fixing chamber for recording picture images on electro-photosensitive material, wherein

(a) said charging/exposing chamber comprises charging means for charging a predetermined picture image area on said electro-photosensitive material;

(b) said developing chamber is so constructed that a space formed as its opening faces the surface bearing an electrostatic latent image, and that said electrostatic latent image is developed by supplying the developer into said space;

(c) said drying chamber is so constructed that drying air is applied to said electro-photosensitive material to dry the developer; and

(d) said fixing chamber comprises fixing means for fixing the toner picture image formed on the electro-photosensitive material,

characterized in that at least the portion of the charging/exposing chamber where a corona wire (118) is fixed, is detachably mounted.

2. The process head as claimed in Claim 1, comprising a mounting member (112) and a head member (114; 115), characterized in that:

(a) said mounting member (112) is adapted to be mounted to the main body of an electrophotographic apparatus; and

(b) said head member (114; 115) is formed with an opening facing the electro-photosensitive material, and said mounting and said head members are integrally fixed so that the charging/exposing chamber, developing chamber, drying chamber and fixing chamber are formed in the space between the mounting and the head members.

3. The process head as claimed in Claim 2, characterized in that a charging mechanism of said charging/exposing chamber is detachably mounted in the space between the mounting head (112) and the head member (114; 115).

4. The process head as claimed in Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the respective developing, drying and fixing chambers are arranged in a row in this order at one side of said charging/exposing chamber.

Drawing